[ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: family of the year. you can see a bonus song at our website. >> jimmy: i want to thank mindy kaling, carl reiner. i want to thank kai. tomorrow night, jessica alba, chef bobby flay and music from ellie goulding. "nightline" is next. thanks for watching. good night. tonight on "nightline," pope steps down. a bombshell announcement as pope benedict becomes the first pontiff to resign in almost 600 years. the stunning move that has the world asking who's next. from "hunger games" to "silver linings playbook" she is captivating audiences everywhere.

oscar front-runner jennifer lawrence talks tinseltown parties and hollywood royalty. and swimsuit inc. a show-stopping cover as kate upton graces "sports illustrated" swimsuit edition once more. we go inside the big business of a well-worn bikini. keep it right here, america. "nightline" is back in just 60 seconds. [ male announcer ] pillsbury grands biscuits. delicious. but say i press a few out flat... add some beef sloppy joe sauce... and cheese fold it all up and boom! i just made an unbeatable unsloppy joe pillsbury grands biscuits. let the making begin. [ female announcer ] in just 60 seconds, you can't get more italian. it's on. let's roll.

from new york city, this is "nightline" with bill weir. >> if the last 600 years have taught us anything it's that popes don't quit. there is no league of retired pontiffs, no holy father rest home. it is a job for life or at least it was until this morning when over a billion catholics did a double take over the news that benedict xvi had given his two weeks' notice in latin.

why now and what does it mean for the church? who could possibly replace him. here's terry moran. >> reporter: it seemed an ordinary rainy monday in the vatican. except maybe for that lightning bolt striking st. peter's. pope benedict xvi gathered a group of cardinals for a small ceremony, the canonization of three saints. his bombshell came at the end. [ speaking latin ] >> reporter: he spoke in latin, the ancient language of the church. i have come to the certainty, he says that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the papacy. >> i'm shocked. >> reporter: around the world, from insiders to outsiders, the reaction was the same. >> today's decision by benedict xvi to resign from the papacy came as a huge surprise to me and to everyone in rome and in

the vatican. >> reporter: for almost 600 years, it hadn't happened. for almost 600 years, popes died in office. with this one stroke, benedict xvi has changed history. >> no one alive has seen anything like that happen. and the dynamics of that are completely unknown. >> reporter: just under eight years ago he stepped out on the balcony of st. peter's basilica, joseph ratzinger becoming benedict xvi. succeeding john paul ii who had reigned as pope for 25 years. >> he had a hard act to follow. >> a very difficult act. but he followed in his own way. >> reporter: father james marten is editor at large of the order's magazine "america." >> if john paul was a rock star, he was the beloved professor. >> reporter: benedict was a shy man with a great reputation in the church. a theologian a strong advocate for a return to tradition in the face of the modern world.

but these were hard years for the catholic church and the pope. there was the continuing agony in the church of the sex abuse scandals in several countries. cardinal timothy dolan of new york spoke with diane sawyer earlier and reflected on the toll of it all. >> when he speaks about the church, when he speaks about christian life they are the most noble, loving, the most elevated sentiments you can have. and for him to see the troubles, the corruption, the scandals that have always afflicted members of the church, that's got to weigh on him. >> reporter: another scandal hit close to home. his own personal but tear stole a trove of his private correspondence and leaked it to the italian media. over the years, many of the faithful warmed to this meek, prayerful man. >> he was an incredible shepherd and just someone i would look to as one of the great leaders in our church. >> reporter: and now he is

leaving to lead a quiet life in the vatican. so what next? is this a moment when the church is on the verge of profound change? a lot of people in the secular world look at the catholic church and say when are they going to ordain women and have priests who don't have to be celibate? when are they going to change on the issue of homosexuality? >> i think for the next pope, those questions all have the same answer. which is no, no, and no. i don't think you're going to see much change. >> reporter: a catholic scholar who has advised the pope on women's issues sees the challenges ahead in stark terms. >> i think some of the challenges are similar to what they were in 2005, which is making catholicism relevant and comprehensible as against modern notions of the nature of love, the nature of freedom, the nature of progress. >> reporter: the big question in the immediate future, who's

next? ♪ in a few short weeks now as they did nearly eight years ago the cardinals will gather in rome, enter the sistine chapel in formal procession with the magnificent michelangelo frescos soaring above them and take their places, lock the door behind them, and pick the next pope. it is an ancient and secretive and tafl structured process. part politics, part prayer. and always the potential for stunning surprise. so among the front runners, the cardinal angelo s is cola, archbishop of milan. well liked and close to pope benedict, he'd mark a return of cardinals to st. peter. a cardinal from ghana could be the first black pope. >> think of the interesting picture an african bishop, equally devoted to the churches of sex and marriage, its teaching there, and the teaching

on poverty and the dignity of every human being, think of what a picture that would present. >> reporter: and the archbishop of sao paulo, brazil. the largest diocese in the largest catholic country. he may be the strongest candidate from latin america. and new york's affable cardinal dolan is being mentioned though many believe a superpower pope from the u.s. is unlikely and he dismissed the idea. with diane sawyer. >> what are the odds of a north american and you were asked, what about you? >> is this abc evening news or comedy central? >> reporter: it will be a momentous and mysterious process set in motion today by the quiet historic words of the servant of the servant of god, as they say, a man who simply decided it was time. >> our thanks to terry moran. coming up next, she's only just cracked her 20s but has her second oscar nod.

for "silver linings playbook." jennifer lawrence on fame, parties and that slippery ladder of hollywood stardom. [ male announcer ] at his current pace, bob will retire when he's 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire. but he's not. ♪ he's an architect with two kids and a mortgage. luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on his portfolio. and with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. [ coughs ] [ baby crying ] ♪ [ male announcer ] robitussin® liquid formula soothes your throat on contact and the active ingredient relieves your cough. robitussin®. don't suffer the coughequences™.

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she is the 22-year-old actress equally deadly with body bow and arrow and ironically docked eyebrow. jennifer lawrence has a second academy awards nomination. to go with her "hunger game" blockbuster creds. fair to say she's on the a-list now.

you might be surprised to find how long she hopes to stay there. chris connolly got to know her in our series oscar confidential. >> reporter: when jennifer lawrence won best actress at the s.a.g. awards she thanked her family, director, cast members, and honcho harvey weinstein. then? >> i always go home. i stopped at harvey's party for a little bit and got my parents drunk and i left and went home. >> reporter: just 22 with two best actress nominations on her resume she has hollywood buzzing with delight. both at her grit and glam range and at her refreshingly unspoiled self-image. >> i have a weird job. if i remind myself of that that it's nothing more than that then i don't start thinking it's more dramatic. >> how did you lose your job? >> i -- having sex with everybody in the office.

>> reporter: oscar nominated for director david o. russell's "silver linings playbook," she takes what could have been a rom-com stock character and fills her off-kilter widow with captivating emotions. on the dance floor with bradley cooper. or toe to toe with this guy. >> ever since he was with you -- >> you think i'm why today's happened? >> that's right, you are why today's happened. >> i'm the reason why today's happened? >> how is it like staring into robert de niro's eyes and tell him off? >> nerve-racking. i'm really bad about like reading scenes before. so i was trying to memorize it in the makeup trailer. i was like, oh my god, i'm going to be screaming at robert de niro and i'm going to mess up my lines. fortunately the adrenaline kicked in and i remembered. >> you had to memorize that in the hair and makeup trailer and saying it to one of the greatest actors in the history of

american cinema. >> show up, say it. i already feel really bad. i already feel terrible, yeah. god. i didn't plan it. that's the problem. i didn't plan it. >> reporter: she grew up louisville, kentucky youngest of three. spurning the sports her brothers loved. an irrepressible, spontaneous performer from the get-go. >> my dad started working at home when i was -- i guess 6. i would dress as a clown or ballerina every single day and dad's trying to work. wait, wait, watch! put on a new show or dress up as a person and knock on the door and be like, hi, my name's judy and my car broke down, can i use the phone? but none of us assumed i would be an actress. >> reporter: jennifer and her mother took a trip to new york city and she was spotted by a scout. >> i had caught the bug. it was the first time i felt i 100% was made for something and

i could be good at something and i understood something. i'd spent so many years being lost in school and feeling stupid. >> i've been looking. >> i'll find him. >> reporter: her break came in 2010 with this underdog indie anymore playing an ever-resourceful teen amid meth and menace on a hard-scrabble ozark landscape. >> i'm auditioning thinking am i good at this? or these directors just like me? and "winter's bone" happened and they loved the movie and a couple years later we were at the oscars. it was just unreal. >> reporter: the critically-hailed drama earned lawrence her first oscar nomination. but when she was offered more roles in flannel she flipped the script. >> we did an esquire shoot. i got in a bikini and pranced around and got that out in the magazines. that helped. >> that helped? >> yeah. >> prancing like that, doing that sort of -- >> i guess. that's why i hire professionals.

>> reporter: she was drop-dead gorgeous enough to be cast in "x-men: first class." requiring layer upon layer of blue paint to be applied each shooting day. >> i have no modesty. i was standing or sitting while seven women painted me everywhere and it was horrible. but i can't wait to go back. >> reporter: the fans of "the hunger games," lawrence's indomitable, emotionally torn character of what will be a movie trilogy. yet after being cast in the role she nearly didn't do it. >> because of the size of it. and because of "twilight." i knew what to expect. i think the poor "twilight" actors had no idea what they were getting themselves into. i was afraid of my life changing. i had a wonderful life. i had this imaginary made up future of myself where i would be a soccer mom, driving a

minivan, raise a normal family. i couldn't see that future if i said yes to these movies. it was -- difficult. it took three days. but i've never once regretted saying yes to "hunger games." which is odd because i expected to. >> reporter: a $400 million blow out the door smash, the film's success reshaped not just her own life but those of her loved ones. her mother, for one. >> god bless her. she texts me every day, are you home? are you okay? >> reporter: we don't see you get carried home from a club in this neighborhood? >> you will never see that. i don't like it. i hate -- i don't like clubs. and i don't have the stomach for getting really wasted. four drinks and i'm barfing. i don't know what it is. and my brothers are ashamed of me. >> reporter: when she ventures out, acting royalty leaves her slack-jawed. >> i saw meryl streep at a party one time. somebody was about to introduce me to bill maher. he was reaching my hand, i literally put my hand in his face, looked at meryl streep,

"not now, bill!" i stared at her all night, drank and stared at her like a creep. sorry. >> reporter: but as oscar night awaits it's her fellow nominees looking up to her. >> what happens when you run into younger actors now, like 14-year-olds, somebody like that. what's it like to talk to people who are where you were four or five years ago? >> it's amazing. it's really fun. and a sense of relief. like, oh, gosh. because i'm not going to be relevant forever. >> reporter: i'm chris connolly for "nightline" in los angeles. >> you'll be relevant for a while, hate to break it to you. thanks to chris connelly. you can watch the oscars on abc sunday, february 24th. see how that works out. just ahead, as kate upton's stone cold image heats up the "sports illustrated" swimsuit edition, we'll bring you a special look inside the big business of little swimsuits. edition we'll give you a look at

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forget birthday parties or yearbook photos. many a red-blooded american can mark the passage of time better in "sports illustrated" swimsuit editions. yes, there's a reason you can remember where you were when it was cindy on the cover or tira or kate upton for a second time. abc's darren rovell investigates. >> reporter: it's the cover you can't stop staring at. model kate upton sailing in the chilly antarctic waters. wait. where's the swimsuit again? this new behind the scenes video shows it all. in the hard-luck magazine business, the "sports illustrated" swimsuit issue is one of the few remaining stars. since 1964, it has generated more than $1 billion for its parent company, time, inc.

it's no shock upton is on the cover the second straight year. she's the first to accomplish that feat since tyra banks more than 15 years ago. the 20-year-old so to the, tmz found her in antarctica. publishing photos of the shoot more than a month before the cover was revealed. for years, the "si" swimsuit issue has stood out in the modeling world for two years. they don't defer not waifs that frequent the runway, and they're willing to give the models names. you know them all. brinkley. ireland. mcpherson. upton can join those names. after "sports illustrated" fit her into the 2011 issue at the last minute, she became an internet sensation. first, this dougie dance at a clippers game. millions of youtube hits later, this video. ♪

corporate america even got into the act. carl's jr. used upton when she made last year's cover. mercedes-benz used her in this year's super bowl campaign to appeal to the younger crowd. 7% of "sports illustrated's" revenue is from the swimsuit issue. the magazine is looking to make it even more profitable. and it's hard to deny upton's digits. we're not talking about measurements. google searches for upton have risen more than 2,000% since january of last year. "si" looking to piggy back of a those numbers by launching a daily blog devoted to the swimsuit models. "sports illustrated" made her a star. but her curves fighting the industry mold have made her advertising gold. a business model that keeps on giving. i'm darren rovell for "nightline" in new york.

it's time for our "closing arguments." late tonight, a large tremor detected in north korea, not the most seismic place. so it's a suggestion that perhaps the hermit regime has carried out a third nuclear test there, despite international protests a short time ago ap reported north korea claims they have successfully conducted such a test. the u.n. called an emergency reading. what do you think? does this merit alarm if it as nuclear test? how should america respond? tell us what you think on the "nightline" facebook page, tweet us @nightline. we have a new name for our new baby. the marriage of abc news and univision, launching a 24-hour channel soon called fusion. it launches later this year. thank you for watching abc news. we're always online at abcnews.com. meet you back here tomorrow.